Space 1999 - Super Space Theatre

SPACE: 1999 fans, listen up! Four brand new restored feature-length films of the popular Sci-fi series (created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson), plus one additional adventure called SPAZIO 1999 (with original Italian movie soundtrack and Ennio Morricone score), have just been released as a 5-disc Blu-ray set exclusively by Network on Air and if it wasn’t excitement enough this SUPER SPACE THEATRE comes with an array of enticing bonus features!

Capitalising on the success of the first two Space: 1999 movies (episodes edited together as cinema features in the wake of Star Wars), ITC created what would ultimately become thirteen full-length movies for cable and home video under the banner Super Space Theater, with four of these made from episodes of Space: 1999 (including new music in places, additional scenes, enhanced special effects plus, in the case of ‘Alien Attack’ and ‘Destination Moonbase-Alpha’ - additional material not seen in the original presentations).

As keen viewers of this 70’s cult series will know, Moonbase Alpha is a scientific research colony settled within a crater on the Earth’s Moon. This Moonbase is led by Commander John Koenig (Martin Landau) and his devoted team comprised of Helena Russell (Barbara Bain) – head of the medical section, chief pilot Alan Carter (Nick Tate), science advisor Victor Bergman (Barry Morse), main mission controller Paul Morrow (Prentis Hancock), data analyst Sandra Benes (Ziena Merton), second in command Tony Verdeschi (Tony Anholt), computer operations officer David Kano (Clifton Jones), deputy medical officer Bob Mathias (Anton Phillips) and shape-shifting alien science officer Maya (Catherine Schell). Not to forget the rest of the crew of over 300 male and female Earthlings.

Let’s crack on with the first Super Space adventure, namely ALIEN ATTACK (with optional 4:3 and 16:9 versions, trailer and interview). While the Moonbase functions as a centre of sorts for various intergalactic outings, on the other end of the Moon silos filled with atomic waste from planet earth are stored. Trouble starts when some strange magnetic radiation emerges and causes a gigantic explosion in the year of our Lord 1999… propelling the Moon out of the Earth’s orbit and into space, the final frontier… Basically, the entire Alpha crew and staff are drifting on the runaway Moon in search of a new home (or a way to get back to Earth) though black holes and what have you pushes the aimlessly drifting Moon light-years from home and bang, suddenly we’re in the year 2100. When our heroes and heroines detect weird signals they have no idea that they are about to encounter Anthony Valentine and Isla Blair as aliens with bulbous heads seemingly denoting their far superior intelligence who are set on embarking on a series of unpleasant mind games on Commander Koenig and his crew. Back home on earth, we have lantern-jawed Patrick Allen as the Chairman of the Lunar Commission while Roy Dotrice makes a surprise appearance on the Moonbase as Commissioner Gerald Simmonds. The alien sets are pretty impressive and colourful too!

On to JOURNEY THROUGH THE BLACK SUN (with optional 4:3 and 16:9 versions, trailer and original NTSC titles). When an asteroid appears to be on collision course with the floating Moonbase, Nick Tate fancies himself as Bruce Willis and before you can say “Yippee ki yay” he embarks on a mission to drop nukes on the asteroid. But then things go pear-shaped (as they often do in Sci-fi flicks) because not only does Nick get lost and a concerned Koenig and Paul Morrow waste no time in looking for their chief pilot but things get weirder still when the asteroid in question changes into a (literally) all-devouring ‘Black Sun’ with 1940s screen idol Margaret Leighton as Arra – the one-woman ruler of this all consuming planet sitting on a makeshift throne like a gigantic black widow (hell, there are cobwebs everywhere) and prompting a mass evacuation from Alpha while science advisor Victor is left with the ungrateful task of saving his fellow colleagues and of course, Alpha itself…
Casting Leighton (sporting a long, silver-grey wig which rather makes her look like one of these Morlock creatures out of The Time Machine) as the black-clad dame sure was an inspiring move and clearly she has fun with the role.

The space odyssey continues with COSMIC PRINCESS (with optional 4:3 and 16:9 versions, trailer and original NTSC titles) and we’re off to a riveting start when it transpires that titanium, urgently needed for repair works on the Alpha base, is detected on planet Psychon and hey presto, one of the Eagles with co-pilot Ray Torens (Nick Brimble) and colleague are en route to investigate. The journey is doomed thanks to Psychon’s evil ruler Mentor (Brian Blessed having a blast and a half) who wants their brains and souls in order to reduce all stranded astronauts to zombie-like workers (think Hammer’s ‘Plague of the Zombies’). Of course, the captured brains and souls are supposed to transform Psychon back to its former glory – right now it looks more like a volcanic wasteland. In no time Koenig and Co. are hot on the heels of the missing Eagle but they too fall prey to Mentor’s foul masterplan involving kidnap and other despicable deeds. Fear not, Mentor’s daughter Maya goes against him once she discovers what daddy is really up to but the ensuing struggle leads to explosions and Maya is undergoing various bizarre transformations although it must be said that by nowadays standards they look about as frightening as Oscar the Grouch from the Muppets.

DESTINATION MOONBASE-ALPHA (with optional 4:3 and 16:9 versions and trailer) is without the most bonkers adventure of the lot – a hallucinogenic trip (we’re still in the year 2100) in which nothing seems as it is. Doctor Carter and some of her colleagues witness the horror of Commander Koenig crash-landing one of the Eagle transporters after laughing insanely and talking gibberish with obviously no idea what he was doing. Rescued by his colleagues, Koenig wakes up finding himself strapped to some sort of brain machine in Dr. Carter’s surgery room though he has no recollection as to how and why the crash occurred. Meanwhile, a spaceship identified as ‘Superswift’ approaches and before they know what’s happening, the Alpha-crew welcomes proper Earthlings (or so they think) into their Base, including Guido Verdeschi (‘The Champions’ Stuart Damon), the brother of Tony, and a particularly irksome femme fatale called Diana Morris (a particularly irksome Toby Robins) who immediately flirts with the male of the species. In fact, the new arrivals all seem to be friends with the Alphians and know them from their past life on Earth though in reality they are aliens in disguise and – yep you guessed it – have but one agenda on their mind: desperate for radioactive energy they hope to manipulate the Alphians into detonating the nuclear waste at the far end of the Moon and by doing so, reducing the Moon and every life form on it to ashes. To achieve this goal they use telepathy which causes Alphians to see planet Earth as a beautiful illusion… and Nick Tate is one of the gullible lads who falls for it… endangering everyone. Only Koenig smells a rat but can he convince his fellow Alphians that the manipulative visitors are in fact ghastly aliens?

Last but not least we have SPAZIO 1999 (16:9 version) – a compilation of footage from the following three SPACE 1999 episodes: ‘Breakaway’ / ‘Ring Around The Moon’ and ‘Another Time, Another Place’. This Italian version has Italian dialogue with English subtitles.

Please note that this SUPER SPACE THEATRE deluxe set can only be ordered direct via www.networkonair.com !